Your Turn: Dec. 3
Updated 5:03 pm, Monday, December 2, 2013
Re: “3 women first to pass Marine infantry course,” Another View, Nov. 26:
As a retired member of our military I read William Saletan's article on the successful completion of infantry training by three female marines.
Congratulations to them! They are obviously physically strong and well motivated. Inclusion of women into all specialties in the military is a coming thing. In my opinion, it is largely politically motivated.
Many of our high-ranking officers want to be considered politically correct and will push hard to achieve this total equality of the genders. Physical standards will be lowered as this movement gains momentum in order to increase the number of women who successfully complete some of the more rigorous training some specialties require. A good example of that is the different standards applied to cadets at West Point — female cadets are not held to the same physical standards as the males.
However, there is one aspect to this issue that is never mentioned in articles like Mr. Saletan's. That is that at times in combat the lives of fellow soldiers depend on the upper body strength of their comrades.
The citations for the last three individuals awarded the Medal of Honor included the fact that all of them physically carried wounded comrades to safety. I hope that future female combat soldiers also have that ability.
Morrill Ross Jr.
Morrill Ross Jr.
When Ronald Reagan was president, he signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 giving amnesty and legal status to 3 million illegal immigrants. This was in exchange for increased border security and penalties for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants.
Those solutions weren't enforced or didn't work and 27 years later we have the same problem, but now with 11 million illegal immigrants.
Yet the proposed solution is the same. More border security and the use of things like e-Verify to determine U.S. citizenship.
Why should we again give relief with no hope of federal enforcement of our borders or laws?
Ken Valentine Common courtesy
Re: “The other half,” Your Turn, Nov. 25:
I am responding to Ms. Hooge's opinion that conservatives are clueless and lacking in compassion toward people on Medicaid.
If a person has a job where they can't take sick leave why did they make an appointment in the first place? If they can't or couldn't make their appointment, why can't they at least call or reschedule? This might allow another Medicaid patient to utilize that time slot.
This isn't about conservatives lacking compassion or “not getting it.” It's about expecting the minority of Medicaid patients who are irresponsible to start using some common sense and common courtesy so that all Medicaid patients can benefit.